THE SUCCESS STORY OF MADAM DORCAS

Bukari Dorcas is a 45 year old mother of five and the sixth wife of Mr. Ransford. Mr. Ransford has 20 children. Because of the large size of his family, he has left the survival of his children entirely in the hands of his wives. Dorcas as one of his wives earns her living through peasant farming. She does the farming during the rainy season to take care of herself and her children and travels to the southern part of Ghana during the lean season to work as head potter. A phenomenon in Ghana popularly referred to as “Kaayaaye”.

She has been looking for an opportunity to receive entrepreneurship skills training where she could stay in Guabuliga and take control of her life without going through the herculean task of travelling to southern Ghana looking for greener pastures. The “Kaayaaye’ comes with negative social vices such as rape, thievery, prostitution and others. Luck smiled on her and BA selected her among those chosen to receive entrepreneurship training in LIQUID SOAP AND POMADE MAKING.

As part of BA commitment to push entrepreneurial activities in the community of Guabuliga, BA gave her a skill that would help her secure her livelihood as well as those of her dependence.  This support has given madam Dorcas the opportunity to establish her own business and she is now able to take care of her children’s school needs in Guabuliga.

After graduation from BA training centre, BA assisted her with a startup capital to produce liquid soap for sale in Guabuliga and the surrounding villages. This has become a game changer in her life. She is now able to produce both liquid soap and pomade in larger quantities and sell the products in Guabuliga and the surrounding villages and makes profit from it.

Dorcas is so elated that her entrepreneurial dreams have finally come true. She is now a happy woman as she able to take care of herself and family. She has also done away with the idea of “Kaayaaye”. When we contact her about her message for BA, Madam Dorcas has this to say “I am very grateful to BA; your projects and programs have transformed Guabuliga and changed my life for the better”.  Below is a snapshot of madam Dorcas and her business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHRILI CAR VISITS GUABULIGA

Landscape Architect and BA’s external expert; Chrili Car paid a two-day visit to Guabuliga to support on projects and activities in the community. Due to his expertise and focal role on BA’s Greenbelt and Organic Garden projects, Chrili spent a chunk of his stay working in these areas. He provided technical direction to trainees of the organic garden project and lauded them for the wealth of knowledge already gathered in the field. He was particularly exultant that just a few months into training, a good number of them have started applying the acquired skills on their farms. In a small meeting with the Chief and some elders of the community to discuss the progress of the Greenbelt project and reflect forward, Chrili seized the moment to present his doctoral thesis- “Guabuliga: Open Spaces of Everyday Life” to the community. Receiving the book on behalf of the community, Chief Salifu M. Tampuri expressed profound gratitude to Chrili for his continuous support to the natural resource development of Guabuliga. He also promised renewed commitment to the success of natural resource projects in the community. Pictures of Chrili’s visit are shared below: